Akita11 wineries

Open to visitors

4 (3 by reservation)

Tasting available

3 wineries

On-site shop

2 wineries

Earliest founding year

1917 Asamai Shuzo Co., Ltd.

These figures count the winery listings on this site. Every listing carries its own sources and verification date. Anything we could not verify is left out of the count, so the real numbers may be higher. A founding year may refer to the parent company — often a sake brewery — rather than the year winemaking began.

Akita is a region where winemaking has centred on yamabudo, the wild grape native to Japan, and its crossings. In the National Tax Agency's count of production sites that produced or shipped wine during 2024, Akita had 8 wineries (519 nationwide). A guidebook published by the prefecture features Towada Winery and Winery Konohana in Kazuno City and Kosaka Nanataki Winery in Kosaka Town, all of which describe making wine from yamabudo-type varieties. In Kosaka Town, grape growing began in 1988 on unused farmland in the Tokito district, and Kosaka Nanataki Winery was completed in 2017.

Climate

Prefectural material explains that in Kosaka Town growers planted yamabudo-type varieties "resistant to disease and able to be cultivated even in a cool climate." In other words, cultivation has been made viable by choosing varieties that ripen in cooler conditions.

Soil

The Tokito district of Kosaka Town, where the vineyards were opened, is described as volcanic-ash soil with good drainage, well suited to growing grapes (Tohoku Regional Agricultural Administration Office, MAFF). Prefectural material explains that this volcanic-ash soil was laid down by the ancient massive eruption that formed Lake Towada, and a producer in Kazuno City likewise states that soils in northern Tohoku are characterised by minerals contained in that ashfall.

• nta.go.jp2026.08.07
• pref.akita.lg.jp2026.08.07
• maff.go.jp2026.08.07
• pref.akita.lg.jp2026.08.07